TOPEKA (KSNT) – A new data center has been proposed at the old Forbes Field in Topeka.
The Metropolitan Topeka Airport Authority (MTAA) held data center presentation at the Oct. 13 Topeka city council meeting. This comes after both Shawnee County and the city of Topeka passed moratoriums on data center development within county and city limits.
Curtis Sneden, president of the MTAA, spoke about the plan for a potential data center. The developer currently has no client to occupy the site once built.
The planned site is approximately 30 to 40 acres and located on the south side of Forbes Field, with the initial stage expected to be two buildings, including an on-site substation. Both buildings would be 150,000 square feet. The plan includes a potential expansion later on to four total buildings. During the meeting, Sneden emphasized the plot of land is undeveloped, resides in an existing industrial zone and that the plot has no utility access currently.
According to the presentation, the developer of the site is also responsible for building access roads and running utility services to the site. The developer would also incur any costs to bring utility access, as the MTAA will not “agree to pay any incentives”. It was also mentioned that the developer is planning to pay these costs in its evaluations of the site.
How are data center developments coming to a halt in Kansas?
The project is estimated to consume 70 to 80 MW a week of electricity if constructed, along with consuming about 1,000,000 gallons of water. According to Sneden, this is in line with standard expectations for industrial land uses. The noise levels are expected to remain below 65 decibels, and is roughly equivalent to a normal conversation.
An undeveloped section of land would become a rent-collecting and revenue producing property, according to officials. Snede suggests future development at Forbes Field could be possible with the utility access that the project could provide.
Currently, any development at the airport would need to pay to bring in their own utility lines; with utilities extended for the data centers, new tenants of the airport would have to spend less.
Additionally, Sneden claims that the timeline is set well after the expiration of the limit on Shawnee County data center applications. Currently, the development firm is still looking into energy costs and other parts in the process before they begin to assemble an application. According to the presentation, the developer would also look into finding alternative sources of water. The application would not be ready for filing, until the Spring of 2027, which is after the Shawnee County moratorium is set to expire.
Officials said the new proposal is not expected to affect normal airport operations in any capacity. Nothing in this proposal is set in stone.
“If it came to pass that this would materially affect our air traffic, it would be over,” Sneden said.
For more local news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.
